"This may be the driest place on Earth today, but only 5,000 years ago it had a much kinder climate with rivers, lakes, vegetation, animals, and man," said Farouk El-Baz, director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University in Massachusetts.

While the lake has since dried up, much of its water likely seeped into the porous rock underneath to become part of the groundwater there today.

El-Baz said that mapping the former lake may help with groundwater exploration efforts in the troubled Darfur region, where access to freshwater is scarce.

A new water source could help the reported 2.5 million people driven from their homes since fighting began between ethnically African rebels and the Arab-dominated central government in 2003.